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Mid-Boreal Lowland and Interlake Plain

↑About the Mid-Boreal Lowland and Interlake Plain

The Mid-Boreal Lowland and Interlake Plain make up an ecoregion located mostly in Manitoba, beginning a bit north of Winnipeg and extending northwest slightly into east-central Saskatchewan.

This region is towards the cold end of a humid continental climate. Although there are abundant lakes in the region, and they provide a slight moderating effect during the warm season, the lakes all freeze in winter and they have no moderating effect after they freeze. Because of the interior location on the continent and the flat terrain in all directions, the weather can experience severe swings of temperature at any time of year. Although precipitation is higher in summer, this is only due to temperature; cloud cover is much higher in winter.

The terrain here ranges from entirely flat to gently rolling hills; surface soils are formed either on glacial moraine or lake deposits. There is a great deal of surface water here, both in large lakes and small ponds, to where there is more water than land in much of the region. The coastlines of the bodies of water are irregular, with many peninsulas with complex shapes, as well as islands in the lakes, and the islands and peninsulas themselves also having more lakes. The drainage network here has been severely disrupted by glaciation. Nearly all areas drain into lakes, but the lakes are mostly connected by small channels and the whole area eventually drains north into the North Saskatchewan river system that eventually joins the Nelson River to drain into the Hudson Bay.